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               SECRET SECURITY MESSAGES ON STAMPS CAN BE DECODED
                                       
     Postal Service Logo October 16, 1997
     Web posted at: 3:39 p.m. EDT (1939 GMT)
     
     WASHINGTON (AP) -- The post office is preserving a bit of nostalgia
     from an era when children saved cereal box tops for the secret
     decoder rings. The new decoder isn't a ring, but it does the job by
     revealing secret messages hidden on some U.S. postage stamps.
     
     "It was done primarily as a anti-counterfeit measure, but we knew
     that collectors of all kinds would enjoy it as an interesting design
     element as well," said postal spokesman Barry Ziehl.
     
     You normally can't see the hidden image, but the post office is
     selling decoders to interested people. For $4.95 collectors can get
     a special lens that reveals the hidden message when placed over the
     stamp.
     
     The first hidden image was on a 32-cent U.S. Air Force stamp issued
     in September. With the decoder, viewers can see the letters USAF
     repeated over and over across the face of the stamp. The decoder has
     to be turned slightly from side to side to get the image to appear.
     
     Copyright 1997   The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
     material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
     redistributed.
     
    
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